ENACTMENT 3 ISLAMIC FAMILY LAW (STATE OF PENANG)
ENACTMENT 2004
PART I - PRELIMINARY
Section 2. Interpretation.
(1) In this Enactment, unless the context otherwise requires—
“anak dara” means a woman who has not had sexual intercourse, whether she has been married or not;
“baligh” means the age of puberty in accordance with Hukum Syarak;
“widow” means a woman whose husband has died;
“resident” means permanently living or ordinarily residing in a particular area;
“darar syarie” means harm, according to what is normally recognized by Hukum Syarak, affecting a wife in respect of religion, life, body, mind, dignity, or property;
“widower” means a man whose wife has died;
“Administration Enactment” means the Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Penang) Enactment 2004; “fasakh” means the annulment of a marriage by reason of any circumstance permitted by Hukum Syarak in accordance with section 53;
“Syariah Appeal Court Judge” means a Syariah Appeal Court Judge appointed under subsection 57(1) Administration Enactment;
“Syarie Judge” or “Judge” means a Judge of the Syariah High Court or the Syariah Subordinate Court, as the case may be, appointed under subsection 58(1) or 59(1) Administration Enactment;
“harta sepencarian” means property jointly acquired by husband and wife during the subsistence of marriage in accordance with the conditions stipulated by Hukum Syarak;
“Hukum Syarak” means Islamic Law according to Mazhab Shafie or according to one of the Mazhab Maliki, Hanafi or Hambali;
“iqrar” means an admission made by a person, in writing or orally or by gesture, stating that he is under an obligation or liability to another person in respect of some right;
“janda” means a woman who has been married and divorced after consummation of marriage;
“kariah masjid” in relation to a mosque, means the area the boundaries of which are determined under subsection 98(3) of the Administration Enactment;
“Chief Registrar” means Chief Registrar of Muslim Marriages, Divorces and Ruju’ appointed under section 28;
“Chief Syarie Prosecutor” means the Chief Syarie Prosecutor appointed under section 78(1) of the Administration Enactment;
“Kitabiyah” means—
(a) a woman whose ancestors were from the Bani Ya’qub, or
(b) a Christian woman whose ancestors were Christians before the prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad; or
(c) a Jewess whose ancestors were Jews before the prophethood of the Prophet ‘Isa;
“Syariah Court” or “Court” means the Syariah High Court or the Syariah Subordinate Court, as the case may be, established under subsection 55(1) or 55(2) Administration Enactment;
“Syariah Appeal Court” means the Syariah Appeal Court constituted under subsection 55(3) of the Administration Enactment;
“Majlis” means the Majlis Agama Islam Negeri Pulau Pinang established under subsection 4(1) of the Administration Enactment;
“mas kahwin” means the obligatory marriage payment due under Hukum Syarak by the husband to the wife at the time the marriage is solemnized, whether in the form of money actually paid or acknowledged as a debt with or without security, or in the form of something that, according to Hukum Syarak, is capable of being valued in terms of money;
“mut’ah” means a consolatory gift which is given according to Hukum Syarak, to a wife who is divorced;
“nasab” means descent based on lawful blood relationship;
“Peguam Syarie” means a person who is admitted to be a Peguam Syarie under section 80 of the Administration Enactment;
“pemberian” means a gift whether in the form of money or things given by a husband to a wife at the time of the marriage;
“Registrar” means the Senior Registrar of Muslim Marriages, Divorces and Ruju’ appointed under section 28, and includes a Registrar and an Assistant Registrar;
“syubhah intercourse” means intercourse performed on erroneous impression that the marriage was valid when in fact the marriage was not valid (fasid) or intercourse by mistake and includes any intercourse not punishable by Had in Islam;
“ruju’” means a return to the original marriage state;
“fosterage” means the suckling of a baby up to sufficiency by a woman who is not its natural mother for at least five times during the first two years of the baby’s life;
“appointed date” means the date appointed under section 1 for the coming into operation of this Enactment;
“ta’liq” means a promise expressed by the husband after the solemnization of marriage in accordance with Hukum Syarak and the provisions of this Enactment;
“illegitimate” in relation to a child, means born out of wedlock but not as a result of syubhah intercourse;
“thayyib” means a woman who has had sexual intercourse;
“wali Mujbir” means the father or paternal grandfather and above;
“wali Raja” means a wali authorized by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, in the case of the Federal Territories, Malacca, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak, or by the Ruler in the case of any other State, to give away in marriage a woman who has no wali from nasab;
(2) All words an expressions used in this Enactment and not herein defined but defined in the Interpretation Acts 1948 [Act 388] and 1967 shall have the meanings assigned thereto to the extent that such meanings do not conflict with Hukum Syarak.
(3) For the avoidance of doubt as to the identity or interpretation of the words and expression used in this Enactment that are listed in the Schedule, reference may be made to the Arabic script for those words and expressions shown against them in the Schedule.
(4) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong may from time to time amend, delete from or add to the Schedule.